Oklahoma State Cowgirls forward Toni Young (15) grabs a rebound in front of Texas Tech Lady Raiders guard Chynna Brown (00) and Texas Tech Lady Raiders forward Kelsi Baker (41) in the first half of play during the Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on March 9, 2013.

Step by step, wherever Chynna Brown went, Brittney Martin followed, with only
a couple of inches separating the two Saturday.

This time, Brown wasn’t going to light up the Oklahoma State defense. And
this time, the Cowgirls were finally going to get past Texas Tech, in their
third meeting. Martin’s key steal from Brown in the final minute helped lift
Oklahoma State to a 59-54 win in the second round of the Phillips 66 Big 12
Women’s Basketball Championship.

Next up: No. 1 Baylor, which has beaten the Cowgirls twice by a combined
margin of 53 points.

Texas Tech (21-10) still appears to be safely in the NCAA Tournament and will
host the first and second rounds in Lubbock.

“I don’t think you have to look any further than what Brittney Martin did for
us,” Oklahoma State coach Jim Littell said. “She did a great job locking up
Chynna Brown. That was the concern for us going into the game.”

Brown, a senior guard from Lincoln, had averaged 21.3 points in her previous
four games, hitting 13 3-pointers in that span. In two previous games against
Oklahoma State, she had scored 37 points and hit 13 of 23 shots.

On Saturday at the American Airlines Center, Martin all but erased her as an
offensive threat.

Brown finished with just four points, going 0-of-9 from the field.

“Sometimes you can be too quick, and I thought she really hurried, trying
just a little too hard,” Tech coach Kristy Curry said.

Martin’s biggest play came with a minute remaining and Oklahoma State
clinging to a one-point lead. Brown tried to run a high pick-and-roll with
center Kelsi Baker. Martin read the pass attempt perfectly to deflect the ball
for her seventh steal. The freshman added 14 points and six rebounds.

After the defensive stand, Oklahoma State’s Toni Young claimed her 18th
rebound off a miss by Kendra Suttles, was fouled and hit two throws.

“Toni Young is a great player, she’s a very athletic player,” Baker said. “At
crucial points in the game, we just didn’t put a body on her and we didn’t box
out.”

Martin, Young and point guard Tiffany Bias (seven assists) each successfully
navigated the final minutes with four fouls.

“We decided if we were going to get beat,” Littell said, “we were going to
get beat with our best players on the floor.”

Liz Donohoe, a 92.4 percent free throw shooter, went 4-for-4 in the final 21
seconds to clinch the win.

Tech led by seven points midway through the first half, only to trail by five
at halftime.

Five times in the final 12:19, Tech got to within one point, but never
led.

“At some point, I thought we were trying to coach too much energy,” Curry
said. “As players, you have to make plays down the stretch, and we just weren’t
able to.”

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